Far Out

June 28, 1987|By Charlie Jean

ANALYSIS OF amino acids from the meteorite that crashed into Murchison, Australia, in 1969 has shown them to be markedly enriched in deuterium in a manner typical of the interstellar environment. The finding gives new support to the theory that chemical building blocks of life were delivered to this planet from far out in space. More than 50 amino acids have been extracted from specimens of that meteorite. Scientists assume that they were synthesized within the swirling cloud of dust and gas that gave birth to the solar system.